How many suitors in the odyssey

It helps identify them as an oppressive power that Penelope and Telemachus must confront. In the Odyssey, the audience only learns the names of several main suitors. Homer presents them as the most significant in the story. For example, Amphinomus is the most sympathetic of all the suitors. He voted against the plan of killing Telemachus. On the other hand, Antinous was the most selfish and arrogant suitor. He desired to defeat Telemachus and occupy the palace.

He is the first suitor to be murdered by Odysseus. The suitors were breaking all the established rules of ancient courting manners. They wanted to make Penelope give up waiting for him and marry one of them. Agamemnon King of Mycenae and commander of the Greek expedition to Troy, he was assassinated by his wife and her lover upon his return home. Homer frequently refers to him, comparing Penelope favorably to Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra.

Odysseus sees him in the Land of the Dead. Tiresias The blind seer of Thebes, he meets Odysseus in the Land of the Dead, warns him of impending dangers, offers advice, and foretells a later quest and a long life.

Alcinous King of the Phaeacians, he encourages Odysseus to tell the story of his wanderings and helps the hero return to Ithaca. Nausicaa Daughter of Alcinous and Queen Arete, she finds Odysseus when he washes ashore on Phaeacia and expresses an attraction toward him. Zeus King of the gods, he is somewhat unpredictable but usually supports wayfaring suppliants, hospitality, and his daughter Athena in her concern for Odysseus.

Athena Sometimes called "Pallas Athena" or "Pallas," she frequently intervenes on Odysseus' or Telemachus' behalf, often in disguise and sometimes as Mentor, the prince's adviser.

And they paid the compensation to Telemachus in barley, wine , olive-oil, honeycombs, salt, and animals for sacrifice. Neoptolemus , some believe, judged in this way because he hoped to get possession of the island of Cephallenia, once Odysseus was put out of the way.

Eumaeus 1 was Odysseus ' servant and swineherd. He was son of Ctesius 1 , son of Ormenus 5. When Telemachus ruled Ithaca he bestowed freedom upon Eumaeus 1. Philoetius was also Odysseus ' servant and master-herdman. Dulichium is one of the Echinadian Islands at the entrance of the Gulf of Corinth. Same is a city in the island of Cephallenia, which is in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Acarnania. Zacynthos is a large island opposite the coast of Elis. Ithaca , where Odysseus had his home, is an island between Cephallenia and the Acarnanian coast.

Acamas 4. From Dulichium Apd. Acarnan 2. Agelaus 5. From Same. Son of Damastor 3. Killed by Odysseus Apd. Agenor 5. Agenor From Zacynthos Apd. Agrius 5. Amphialus 2. From Ithaca Apd. Amphimachus 4. Amphimachus 5. Amphimedon 1. Amphimedon 1 , son of Melaneus 2 , was killed by Telemachus Apd. Amphinomus 2. Amphinomus 2 , who came from Dulichium and was the son of Nisus 2 , pleased Penelope above all others and is said to have seduced her.

He was killed by Telemachus. King Nisus 2 of Dulichium was son of Aretias, otherwise unknown Apd. Andraemon 3. Andromedes 2. Antenor 2. Antimachus 3. Antinous 2. Antinous 2 was from Ithaca. Antinous 2 , son of Eupeithes, was shot dead by Odysseus. From Same Apd. Argius 3. Bias 3. Celtus 2. Cerberus 2. Clymenus 3. Clytius 2.

Clytius 3. Clytius 4. Ctesippus 2. This is the suitor who hurled a cow's hoof at Odysseus the beggar. He was the son of Polytherses and was killed by Philoetius Apd. Ctesippus 3. Ctesius 2. Cycnus 5. Damastor 2. From Dulichium. Echion 3. Elatus 4. Killed by Eumaeus 1 Apd. After the bloodbath, Odysseus has the house fumigated. The dramatic scene in which Odysseus effortlessly strings the bow is justly famous. Since the bow gives Odysseus a weapon in hand, it also allows for a seamless transition to the fighting of Book Homer tells us that Odysseus received the bow during a diplomatic trip to Messene, long before any of his hardships began, and that it has been seldom used since then.

Through his mastery of the bow, Odysseus comes full circle, once again the king and most powerful man in Ithaca. Athena plays a less prominent role in the battle than earlier books suggest she might. Disguised as Mentor, she offers encouragement at a crucial moment, but her departure to the sidelines puts the focus squarely on Odysseus and his allies. Of course, Athena would presumably intervene if the battle were to go awry, but her reserve until the very end allows the victory to be portrayed as the work of Odysseus and Telemachus.

When the suitors do fall, Homer makes their deaths seem fitting by reminding us of the foul deeds that merited this purge. Antinous, foremost among the suitors for his impudence, falls first. The fighting of Book 22 is the only pitched battle in The Odyssey , and while it cannot help but recall The Iliad , which abounds in bloodshed, the description remains thoroughly Odyssean.

For one thing, it maintains the comic and domestic flavor that many critics find characteristic of The Odyssey. The battle, for instance, occurs not on a field but in a palace with the doors locked. Additionally, some of the deaths have a kind of Gothic humor to them, as suitors like Antinous and Eurymachus trip over their dinners. The incapacitation of Melanthius in the storeroom adds comic relief, as does his castration.

After all, these are not famous heroes fighting one another but rather one famous hero warding off a bunch of freeloaders.